


His neck was bent

by zukoisthebluespirit (BlockSwingPerry)



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Gaang will show up later, Gen, Impossible Zuko, Zuko tries his best
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:26:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22339252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlockSwingPerry/pseuds/zukoisthebluespirit
Summary: If children are ever commanded to do the impossible by their parents, it must be done. Zuko just doesn't know when to stop.
Relationships: Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Ozai & Zuko (Avatar), Ursa & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 30
Kudos: 138





	1. Chapter 1

Little Prince Zuko was ready to do the impossible if his parents ever commanded it of him. It was expected, he knew. He had once eavesdropped on the servants, the best source of gossip in the palace, commenting on the plans to invade Ba Sing Se in the coming years. There was great talk of assigning the task to General Iroh, Prince Zuko’s Uncle, once the plans were perfected. Capturing Ba Sing Se was an impossible task and Zuko couldn’t even fathom how his uncle would plan to do it.

“I suppose that one has to bring Great Honor upon the family. If the parents command the impossible, it shall be done,” Whispered one tired old maid. She seemed more proper than all the other servants Zuko had seen. While most held a look of mild fear and worry, she held a look of confidence and tired wisdom.

So he took that wisdom to heart. He attacked every task assigned by his parents with the mindset that anything could be done if you repeatedly tried hard enough. It was easy to do what Mother asked. Pleasant, even. Feed the turtle ducks, make sure he looked proper, be nice and kind to others. It was hard sometimes when he was in a bad mood or if things just weren’t going his way, but they were always doable.

His father, however, when he gave Zuko the rare attention Zuko desired, gave tasks that were hard and demanding. His orders embodied flame in little Zuko’s mind since they were harsh and unforgiving. While his mother coddled him, his father’s words, not his, his father tried to forge him into a better version of himself. One that would give the Fire Nation honour.

So when his father ordered him to stop slacking and produce flame, he did. It didn’t matter that he didn’t have a spark inside him, something his father picked up on immediately after his birth. Even Ursa, who had begged Ozai to let Zuko live, had known that her child was a non-bender. The eyes that hung in his head were a lifeless gold and betrayed the lack of flame inside him.

So, he took a spark of Ozai’s anger and made it his own.

His first impossible act.

[He didn’t recognize that what he did was impossible. Didn’t know that his ancestors, those that were human and not dragons with human skins, had done the same. The very roots of firebenders, taking dragon’s flame and making it their own. But instead of taking a spark of fire from dragon breath, Zuko took it from the breath his Father.]

Even with such a strong spark that fueled his raw inner fire, he still had trouble with firebending. It was almost as if the fire knew that it did not originate from him and should have had another master. He didn’t get it as a gift from Agni and his children, he had taken it without consent. Flames sputtered when they could have blossomed.

But he continued to work at it, never giving up and even though his father and sister belittled his efforts, his mother’s encouragement being the only guidance he got sometimes.

“Keep trying Zuko, practice makes perfect. Not even baby dragons are born with the instinct to fly. It’s something you have to learn and keep at it.”

His mother’s kind words and gentle commands were what kept Zuko going through the impossible tasks his father gave him.

Then one day she wasn’t. There was no safety net so to speak that could save Zuko from Ozai’s demands anymore. His firebending took a turn for the worst, yet he was still optimistic as ever. Ready to please.

Zuko’s second impossible act came from one of those once in a blue moon occasions, when his father decided to give him private lessons.

Ozai had been trying to teach Zuko a kick that would send anybody, even the most grounded earthbender, flying. Zuko couldn’t get the balance quite right and Father was angry and disappointed in him, but if Father would  _ only give him time to get it right, maybe he wouldn’t be so disappointed. _

Of course, Ozai did not spare him this luxury. In a fit of madness, he performed the kick on Zuko. His tiny little body went flying across the practice area and into the far wall.

Ozai did not see or hear the resounding crack of Zuko’s neck, nor the unnatural stretch of his skin. The way a sharp point jutted out. Red and blue splotched out, bruising. Ozai merely saw an unfit boy lying on the ground, too lazy to get up. He was not fit to be his heir. His heir, Ozai did not know, laid dead.

_ If only he had the heart to check up on the boy he would have seen the unnatural way his head was bent and the blood that pooled just beneath the surface of the skin. If only, if only. _

“Get up,” Ozai commanded. The boy laid still. “Get up.”

[Zuko was in a dark room. At least he thinks it’s a room. It’s really dark and he can’t see in front of him. It could be a long hallway or maybe he’s outside and the stars are gone. ‘Hello?’ He asks tentatively. No one answers. Then he hears Father call for him. He turns and there’s a bright light. He was crumpled on the floor and his neck hurt. He tried moving his body.]

A hand stirred. Ozai saw his son was fine and weak and left him.

Unlike the first act, which Zuko did not realize was impossible, Zuko knows that what he just did was impossible. __

_ ‘But my father commanded it’ _

And so Zuko was extra careful around the palace in the following weeks, to allow his neck to heal. He wrapped a small black scarf, tucked in so it wouldn’t look suspicious and almost like a fashion statement. He avoided Father and Azula at all costs during this time.  



	2. Zuko thinking about some things.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not really a chapter with much story in it, just Zuko recalling stuff so that I can ease into the next part of the story. (Or AKA school exams killed my brain cells and left baby ones and the baby ones don't actually know how to function much less write.)

A few years pass and Zuko felt the need to perform more impossible tasks. Father had ignored him and turned all his attention to Azula, who had captivated Father’s attention at the age of four when she firebended two years earlier than the normal six and continued to hold his love since then. When Mother was there in the palace it was a fact of life and Zuko was a little bit jealous, but now that Mother was not there and hadn’t been for a long, long time, Zuko had felt as if he was slowly getting snuffed out. Azula’s flame was taking up the precious oxygen Zuko had.

Azula didn’t have to work to perform any of the impossible tasks she was given because she is perfect. Blue flames and mastery of more forms than the average intermediate firebender were on the top of her list of achievements along with earning Father’s love. Zuko had desperately worked to add those to his list, especially Father’s love, but Zuko and Azula were not the same. 

Zuko could work for eternity and never achieve the effortlessness his sister possessed. Something else had to be his thing and if his work ethic could not impress his Father, who had been crowned Fire Lord which gave Zuko all the more reason to try and do so, than perhaps battle would do it. 

So, he had begged the guards to let him in the war meeting. Zuko had figured that he needed experience with how the Fire Nation handled the war and this would be a perfect way to observe. Just a bunch of old men throwing ideas and battle plans around. Hopefully, Zuko could identify the basic strategies and tactics he learned from the palace tutors and how they were to be used in real life. And if Zuko realized he was hopelessly lost in the meeting, then he would shove battle studies to the side, though he would still persist it in the same exact manner as before, he just wouldn’t try and brag to Father about it and find some other thing.

The guards refused, but luckily Uncle had let him in, only if Zuko promised to be quiet and not cause trouble. The meeting was boring and taught him little outright about war, most of the information he had gleaned so far from the meeting he had to infer, but he learned a great deal about old men arguing. 

Then a general had proposed an insane plan. Surely Father would realize what it meant? He called out the general without thinking. Told him that his planned betrayed the citizens of the Fire Nation. Too late, Zuko realized his mistake. His blunder did not go unnoticed by Father. 

Many times Zuko wondered what would have happened if he kept his word to his uncle. Would he have grown into a handsome young teen as so many of the palace servants used to gossip about if he were not scarred? Would he still be in Father’s good graces having found some other impossible task, other than the one he was currently stuck with in his disgrace, to do? 

It didn’t matter. Zuko had lost the moment he stepped out to perform an Agni Kai against his opponent, who he thought was going to be the general he disgraced instead of Father.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nnnng. My grammar is really bad. Trying to fix that. Also my AN from the previous chapter keep popping up on the next and I don't know how to stop that without deleting the previous AN. Does anybody know how to fix that?


	3. The next train stop is the Western Air temple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wooo Air temple!

“Touching your wound won’t help it heal, nephew.”

Uncle’s voice rang out clear as a bell into the air of the Western Air temple and was directed at his injured nephew. Bandages covered half of his face, hiding a sure to be hideous wound, and his hair was ridiculously shaved to just his phoenix tail. 

Zuko’s hands froze in a position that suggested he was about to start furiously itching at the bandages. (There was already blood that seeped through the bandages from Zuko’s other attempts to stop the strange crawling feeling on his face.) Iroh heard a grumph from his nephew who hesitantly put his hands down. 

“I know that. I’m not stupid Uncle,” Zuko retorted. Zuko had gained a bit of a temper and a mean attitude as of late, and Iroh was still getting used to the new version of his nephew. 

Where Zuko would have once laughed, he growled. In a situation where Zuko would have once had a pained smile, a scowl now occupied his face. He now seemed obsessed with the few commands his father gave him and left no free time to think of the other things in life.

[Maybe if Zuko stayed the same despite the outcome of his Agni Kai, perhaps he would see what the commands truly were instead of blindly taking them to heart with no questions asked. They were not commands that a loving father gave, that were supposed to be feasible. They were a mockery of Zuko and it broke Iroh’s heart to see them eat up his nephew.]

**oOo**

Zuko surveyed his surroundings, a large courtyard of the air temple as if the Avatar was going to pop out at any moment. If the Avatar really were to do that Zuko would be ready, but the Avatar did not and Zuko sighed heavily. It was going to take forever to find the Avatar even if he was hidden in the temple grounds.

Zuko had a small group from his new crew methodically inspecting the temple. Five to be exact. Each one of them would go into a room and inspect every aspect, from the walls to the floor. Zuko would follow close behind to look at their findings. Often times while looking, the five would find little things left behind from the cleansing of the Air Nomads a hundred years ago. 

A burnt wall, a smear of old blood, a broken spear tip. All were trivial and all expected by Zuko. None of it certainly bothered Zuko. 

[This was, of course, a lie. The burned portion of the wall had an intricate mural of flowers that were ruined by fire, they reminded Zuko of the pattern that was on the back of his mother’s comb. The smear of blood was a handprint and dragged across the floor and would reappear the further along he went, mimicking the pattern of a stalk of wheat or of flowers, almost pretty. But then Zuko had the horrible realization that the handprints lead off the building’s edge. The broken spear tip was lying in the middle of the floor, clean. It had never met its mark. A small mercy in the middle of terror.]

Even though Zuko kept trying to convince himself that he was not affected by the little things the crew kept finding in the temple, a tingling feeling spread across his limbs making his bones feel like stiff ice. 

The small skeletons in one room tested Zuko’s faith and loyalty to his birth nation. They were huddled in a corner of the room, bleak white against a threateningly charred black. 

Zuko could easily imagine himself to be in their position, hiding in a small room as Air Army soldiers with no faces fell to Fire Nation soldiers. The large red figures blocking the exits, and Zuko trying to squish himself into the wall as if that could stop flames from licking his flesh and eating away his life. Slipping into agony as consciousness was no longer a concept to him and his sight had black splotches entering his vision.

But Zuko was strong and he would not let this weaken him. He was loyal to his nation and to his father. 

He repeated this in his head his entire stay at the Western Air temple. He did not find the Avatar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I am not trying to say that the Fire Nation was right in killing the Air nomads, I am just trying to convey what little truth Zuko would actually know about the killing of the Air nomads! 
> 
> Alrighty, this chapter gave me so much work for such a short little thing. Originally I had Zuko already near the Southern Water Tribe and he was flashing back to his travels to the different Air temples and other places he searched for the Avatar, but it wasn't sitting right with me so I decided to break it up into small chunks. Also this past week alone has felt like a month with all the crazy stuff happening. I had an English teacher out who most likely doesn't have the coronavirus (hopefully), so much basketball practice, a family death, a t-shirt design, and a whole buncha other stuff so I didn't have time to sit down and write a lot. I'm lucky I haven't forgotten my name.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic has been sitting in my google docs for almost four weeks and the chapter I had been working on was a little too long so I chopped it off here. This is was based off a tumblr post that I cannot find, but it was joking that Zuko is so loyal to his father he'll do anything to get it done so I took that to the extreme. Yell at me at tumblr: https://zukoisthebluespirit.tumblr.com/


End file.
